My player has suffered from the same malady as most of the others on this board - I'm glad that I'm not alone. So I'm going to try and get it resolved with Panasonic and give them a chance to redeem themselves. I will accept nothing less than an exchange for a new unit. I'll let you know how it all pans out within the next couple of days.

Unit lasted as long as the Panasonic warranty
(was it designed this way?

This is an update on a message that I posted on 12/5/00. I happened to do a follow-up on the review page around January and found that Panasonic was replacing the Model A110s for a few people. I decided to pull it out of the closet (still in the original box) and give it another try.

I called the 800 number, and they gave me a new case number. I was told that someone would get back to me in a few days.

After about 48 hours, I received a call from Elaine from Panasonic and was told to send the unit to their Elgin, IL office where it would be replaced by a DVD-RV65. I shipped the unit UPS "RED" on 2/23/01, so I had tracking and proof of delivery. Then I waited.

On 4/10/01, I decided to check on the status of the unit, so I called the 800 number again. They said they had no record of the unit past 2/21/01. I informed them of what Elaine had said, and they gave me a number for their Elgin office.

When I called there, they couldn’t track it by my original case number case number, but they were able to track it by the serial number. I was told that the unit was shipped to another repair center. I received another telephone number and work order number for this other service center.

I called the new number and gave them my work order number and was told that it was repaired (?????), and they were waiting for a down payment for the repair.

I informed the girl at the Elgin office of what Elaine explained to me was going to happen and she told me that someone would get back to me. I gave her my work phone number (an 800 number so no cost to them) so they could call me.

Instead of waiting for them to call, I called them on 4/11/01 and was told the unit has been shipped. The question I have is am I getting a new unit or my old unit repaired? I will have to wait and see.

If there is anyone out there that is even thinking of buying a Panasonic DON’T DO IT!!!!!
It is the worst equipment on the market and the customer service is questionable at best.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-525

Good picture quality with my Panasonic SuperFlat TV. When it worked that is.

pixelation, freeze-up problems due to manufacturer's defect

I have (had, really) a Panasonic A-110 DVD player which I've bought in July 1998. The machine worked fine until I started to experience the same problems with pixelation/freeze-up as described by multiple users in this community. Mine started to behave badly about 2 weeks ago. Before calling Panasonic customer service I've read the reviews and referenced them in my conversation with a Panasonic representative. Well, he advised me to take it to the nearest Panasonic service center and was polite enough to provide the address. Seems like Panasonic has a selective approach to handling the issue with defective A-110/310s. I'll try to call them again Monday and see if the selectiveness is Panasonic representative-dependent.

But for whose, who had their A-110/310 replaced, please, people, provide your case numbers with Panasonic for reference. It will greatly help to those who is just starting the process. It will be a pity if Panasonic will not do the same for everybody else with a faulty A-110/310s. In my case it will mean switching to SONY brand and ditching, with time of course, my two Panasonic TVs, microwave and telephones.

P.S. I called today again and managed to get a reference number and a promise that somebody will get back to me in 24-48 hours. The representative tried to convince me that to get read of the artifacts I need to plug both video and audio directly into the TV set. I did not argue (what about decoding the DD5.1??). I'll keep the community posted.

Similar Products Used:

none yet

Picture when working

When working should sum it up.

I purchased the Panasonic A110 POS from a friend who was having problems with it. As it turns out, it is the same problem so many of the other reviewers have identified in the pages that follow. I have contacted Panasonic to see what can be done but am skeptical given some of the comments already documented. This player, when working, is a good player. However, when it is not working, well, not much else to say other than that I have been unable to watch a full movie without some type of problem. It is now saying "No Play". It has alse had the following chronic problems: No Disc, Pixelation, Freezing, etc. I hope that Panasonic holds to the level of customer service that others have experienced and replaces this unit. I would hate to think that I could no longer look for Panasonics as an option for electronics. A bad experience with this will prevent me from buying any of their products in the future.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Sony

Picture, sound, and customer support

Defective laser pickup units

Just a follow up from my prior post. I received a brand new Panasonic RV65 only 9 days after sending in my A110! It seems Panasonic has really changed their tune regarding the A110 and A310s. Maybe too late for some, but better late than never.

Dan

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-333

Overall excellence in all areas for almost 2.5 years.

Lack of long term reliability.

I had the same kinds of pixellation and freezing problems described below. I called Panasonic at 1-800-211-7262 on 2/13 to open a new case with Melissa, who said it would be forwarded to a team that was handling the DVD A110 issue. I did not hear back for 3 days, so I called again and was told the team is running behind (~50 case backlog). I finally got a message from Mike after about 10 days, but it took another 3 days to get back in touch with him.

As of 3/1, I've faxed in copies of my original bill of sale and am waiting for Mike to authorize an exchange of the A110 for a RV65. The closest service center is fairly nearby for me (Cypress, CA), so I'll drop the A110 off there and then wait 6 weeks for the RV65 to arrive.

Similar Products Used:

Early Toshiba

Worked well (Dolby Digital) for one (1) year and three (3) months.

No DTS O/P, Poor Customer Service, Sometimes stops after playing about an hour.

I am writing this after several incredible conversations with Panasonic's Customer Service....

On 2/12 I purchased a Yamaha RXV800 to replace my Pioneer D906S (an excellent receiver but without DTS). After installation I started Gladiator selecting the DTS option but nothing....no picture, no sound, just the spinning indicator on the A110 which was rotating very slowly while the time indicator was incrementing at the rate of about 1 second for every 10/12 actual seconds. I then tried the Eagle's Hell Freezes Over and Chicken Run with the exact same results. I never got to the stopping and "No Disc" issue mentioned above as I ended up totally exasperated over the DTS problem.

Call #1...After going through the set-up parameters a nice lady told me to "plug the player directly into the TV bypassing receiver and let us know if you still have the problem". "Of course I will still have the problem as I don't have a DTS decoder in my TV". "Well sir that's the required action". I decided that the nice lady would never, even under threats of death, deviate from her script and we parted company.

Call #2...Another nice lady who, after explaining to her what had transpired on call # 1 gave me a case # and said I would be contacted within 48 to 72 hours by a Sales Representative.

Call #3...Five (5) days after call 2, with no call received from Sales Rep. This lady was no nonsense, I know where my paycheck comes from and it ain't you, nice. I gave her my case #, explained the first two (2) calls and the fact that I had not received the promised call-back. "Well Sir I'll give you the closest service center but as the unit is over a year old you will be responsible for payment". I stated that rather than consider a $100+ repair cost I would buy another unit which would not be Panasonic.
"Well Sir I'm very sorry you feel that way but let me give you a case # in the event you call back".

At this point I borrowed a friend's Toshiba 3109, replaced the A110, tried the same DTS discs which failed on the A110, all played perfectly. NOW HERE COMES THE AMAZING PART..

Call #4...It's quite painful to go through this again as I spent about an hour + on this call. It started out OK after we identified the proper case # (the 1st one). I explained what I had done to determine the problem was with the A110 and not the Yahama receiver and was told that I had performed an invalid test therefore my conclusion was in error. "Sir you cannot use a DVD Player other than a Panasonic to determine if you have a problem". I explained that a DTS bitstream was the same regardless what manufacturer's player it came from and was told that it wasn't. I asked the young lady, who by this time I was calling Madam, if a DVD which played on a Panasonic would play on any other DVD Player....READY FOR THIS...."No Sir it will not". I am a very calm person but I was at my wits end and was actually yelling at this poor woman, who was, after all, trained by Panasonic and turned loose. I asked to speak with a supervisor but, after quite a long wait, was told that she was busy on other calls (I wonder why?) but would I like to speak with another rep who was more familiar with DVD players. I declined the offer as I was afraid I might get the "you don't sign my paycheck lady" from call #3.

I mentioned this website and was told, after another long wait, that someone would get back to me in about three (3) days to build a case and resolve my problem. I apologized for raising my voice, the lady also apologized for not knowing more about DVD players and I think we parted as semi-friends.

As I believe this to be quite a customer service issue as there are so many complaints against the 110 I feel obliged to report back to this site with the final resolution, whatever it may be, and will do so after giving Panasonic several extra days to contact me.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 1st. generation player.

Worked well (Dolby Digital) for one (1) year and three (3) months.

No DTS O/P, Poor Customer Service, Sometimes stops after playing about an hour.

I am writing this after several incredible conversations with Panasonic's Customer Service....

On 2/12 I purchased a Yamaha RXV800 to replace my Pioneer D906S (an excellent receiver but without DTS). After installation I started Gladiator selecting the DTS option but nothing....no picture, no sound, just the spinning indicator on the A110 which was rotating very slowly while the time indicator was incrementing at the rate of about 1 second for every 10/12 actual seconds. I then tried the Eagle's Hell Freezes Over and Chicken Run with the exact same results. I never got to the stopping and "No Disc" issue mentioned above as I ended up totally exasperated over the DTS problem.

Call #1...After going through the set-up parameters a nice lady told me to "plug the player directly into the TV bypassing receiver and let us know if you still have the problem". "Of course I will still have the problem as I don't have a DTS decoder in my TV". "Well sir that's the required action". I decided that the nice lady would never, even under threats of death, deviate from her script and we parted company.

Call #2...Another nice lady who, after explaining to her what had transpired on call # 1 gave me a case # and said I would be contacted within 48 to 72 hours by a Sales Representative.

Call #3...Five (5) days after call 2, with no call received from Sales Rep. This lady was no nonsense, I know where my paycheck comes from and it ain't you, nice. I gave her my case #, explained the first two (2) calls and the fact that I had not received the promised call-back. "Well Sir I'll give you the closest service center but as the unit is over a year old you will be responsible for payment". I stated that rather than consider a $100+ repair cost I would buy another unit which would not be Panasonic.
"Well Sir I'm very sorry you feel that way but let me give you a case # in the event you call back".

At this point I borrowed a friend's Toshiba 3109, replaced the A110, tried the same DTS discs which failed on the A110, all played perfectly. NOW HERE COMES THE AMAZING PART..

Call #4...It's quite painful to go through this again as I spent about an hour + on this call. It started out OK after we identified the proper case # (the 1st one). I explained what I had done to determine the problem was with the A110 and not the Yahama receiver and was told that I had performed an invalid test therefore my conclusion was in error. "Sir you cannot use a DVD Player other than a Panasonic to determine if you have a problem". I explained that a DTS bitstream was the same regardless what manufacturer's player it came from and was told that it wasn't. I asked the young lady, who by this time I was calling Madam, if a DVD which played on a Panasonic would play on any other DVD Player....READY FOR THIS...."No Sir it will not". I am a very calm person but I was at my wits end and was actually yelling at this poor woman, who was, after all, trained by Panasonic and turned loose. I asked to speak with a supervisor but, after quite a long wait, was told that she was busy on other calls (I wonder why?) but would I like to speak with another rep who was more familiar with DVD players. I declined the offer as I was afraid I might get the "you don't sign my paycheck lady" from call #3.

I mentioned this website and was told, after another long wait, that someone would get back to me in about three (3) days to build a case and resolve my problem. I apologized for raising my voice, the lady also apologized for not knowing more about DVD players and I think we parted as semi-friends.

As I believe this to be quite a customer service issue as there are so many complaints against the 110 I feel obliged to report back to this site with the final resolution, whatever it may be, and will do so after giving Panasonic several extra days to contact me.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 1st. generation player.

Worked well for about 15 months.

No DTS O/P,Poor Customer Service,Sometimes stops after an hour or so.

Received a call from Panasonic Customer Service (Alex)just about six (6) hours after posting my Customer Service saga below. While Alex was very pleasent and seemed knowledgable regarding DVD in general, he gave me the same answer as the "you don't sign my paycheck lady" from call # 3 below. Here is the great deal..Send the unit to the Panasonic Service Center in Langhorn PA, they will diagnose for a charge of $45 and define the total cost for repair at $90 + parts (the $90 includes the $45). Then you can decide if you want it repaired.

Obviously Panasonic has either a fractured or 'roll your own strategy' regarding the consumer problems with the 110 in that not all owners or as 1 reviewer put it, potential litigants, are given the same options. I have not yet decided what to do but suffice to say I am very disappointed in a company I thought represented quality.

Similar Products Used:

1st. generation Toshiba

Works very well for about 20 months...

..then refuses to work on many DVDs

Add my name to the list.

My A-110 stopped working this week on many of my DVDs. Some that had played previously will not play at all now (I get a "This type of disc can not be played" screen.)

Has had some quirky behavior before, which I attributed to the DVD disks themselves - We play karaoke discs on our player as well as movies, and sometimes the quality standards on Karaoke DVD are pretty low.. but after this problem began, I tried the 'bad' discs on a friend's player and they worked fine, so now I am thinking the A-110 has had problems for a while before this.

Have contacted Panasonic - person I spoke to "had never heard anything about problems w/ this unit..." Someone is supposed to get back to me within 24 hours.

We'll see.